It’s Not All In Your Head, It’s In Your Brain! (Literally)

Testosterone Testosterone, the hormone of desire, has mistakenly been called “the male hormone”. Women’s ovaries and adrenal glands make lots of testosterone, we just have a lot less of it than men. Testosterone is the fuel that gets “the brain’s sexual engine” revving. When there’s a sufficient amount of testosterone, it accelerates the hypothalamus, activating …

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What is your Private Sexual Fantasy?

We all have sexual fantasies, and most of us also have private sexual fantasies. Sometimes these private fantasies include degrading or violent acts that we do not actually want to play out in real life. However, these private fantasies turn us on and get us aroused.  Many women feel guilty that they have these private …

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Musings on where desire comes from.

I have been struggling mightily recently with a spate of Ultra-Orthodox women who are completely desireless…I mean totally, completely. Almost asexual. I told my husband the other night that I am embarrassed to admit it but I sometimes despair when I’m working with these patients. We help, but it’s such a struggle. Sometimes I feel …

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Adversity and desire.

It happens all the time. A tearful, distraught woman sits down and informs us that: Her husband is leaving her/has left her. Her husband is having/was having an affair. She believes this is due to the fact that they haven’t had sex in (you fill in the blank: 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 …

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A good day at our center.

Someone once asked me what makes a good day at our center. Today is one of those days. Today I got an email with a copy of a baby picture from a patient who struggled for 2 years with vaginismus. She is fine, having great sex and has a beautiful little baby girl to prove …

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The language of lust.

I recently read the book, The Other Side of Desire, by Daniel Bergner. In it, Bergner describes “four journeys into the far realms of lust and longing”. This book is not for everyone. Bergner explores the lives of a pedophiliac, a sadist and others who have erotic tastes that are outside of the norm. Though …

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Turn that dial up.

Recently, researchers conducted a study on sexual desire in men and women. The results are of great interest to us and the work that we do here at the Center. Male and female subjects, individually, were asked to watch two movies while they were connected to devices designed to measure blood flow to the genitals, …

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